Oil burning apparatus



June 6, 1939. R. w. BECKETT OIL BURNING APPARATUS Fil ed March 14, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR WWW BY ATTORNEY June 6, 1939. R. w. BECKETT OIL BURNING APPARATUS Filed March 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEINTOR ATTORNEY V June 1939- R. w. BECKETT OIL BURNING APPARATUS Filed March 14, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented June 6, 1939 UNITED I STATES OIL BURNING APPARATUS Reginald'W. Beckett, Elyria, Ohio, assignor to .Oleveland Steel Products Corp., a corporation of Ohio Application. March 14,

. a claims.

This invention relates to oil burning apparatus and more particularly to oil burning apparatus of the rotary wall flame type wherein combustion is initiated adjacent the combustion chamber wall of a furnace unit.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a rotary wall flame type oil burning apparatus with new and improved means for improving the efficiency and operating charac-' teristics of the same, which means is simple in construction, easy to install and economical to manufacture.

-Another object is to provide a wall flame type oil burning apparatus having a combustion promoting element of heat resistant material.with an air deflecting arrangement of new and'novel construction in association with, the combustion promoting element which will tend to assist in properly placing the flame of combustion and in increasing combustion efficiency.

Another object is to provide oil burning apparatus with an improved means for preventing the snufling out of the flame of combustion.

Another object is to provide the combustion ring of a wall flame type oil burning apparatus with new and improved means for obtaining 'a thorough mixture of vaporized oil and the combustion supporting air.

Another object is to provide a wall flame type burning apparatus having an oil vaporizing wall with a novel arrangement for deflecting the combustion supporting air away from the vaporizing wall whereby to prevent the cooling effect of such air on the vaporizing wall.

With theabove and' other objects in view the present invention consists in certain features of construction. and combination of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings and then claimed.

bodiments of the present invention,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical section of a furnace unit having the oil burning apparatus associated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the oil burning apparatus in plan view;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation showing the air deflecting structure of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately on the In the drawings which illustrate suitable em- 1938, Serial No. 195,908

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the air deflecting elements;v

Fig. 7 is a transverse section similar to Fig. 4; showing a combustion promoting element of modified construction;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section through a furnace unit having an oil burningapparatus associated therewith in which the combustion promoting element is of modified construction;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary plan view of the oil burning apparatus illustrated in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the refractory elements illustrated in Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged section through the combustion promoting element, the flow of air and oil being indicated by arrows; and

Fig. 12 is a perspective-view of one of the combustion promoting elements illustrated in Fig. 8.

In oil burning apparatus ofthe rotary wall flame type, a centrally located rotary head discharges oil and air outwardly over a hearth into contact with a substantially continuous face or vaporizing wall located adjacent the furnace or combustion chamber wall. During normal op- I eration, the oil vaporized by the heat of this face mixes with the air, and combustion 'occurs outwardly of the vaporizing face adjacent the furnace or combustion chamber wall in the form of a whirling, annular, wall-wiping flame. A construction of this character is shown in Patent No. 1,881,260, issued October 2, 1932 to H. F. Braun et' al. Certain phases of the invention have to do with a means associatedwith a com- 'bustion promoting element. of the general character disclosed in this patent for improving the character of the flame produced, for deflecting the combustion supporting air in a manner to increase the efliciency of the combustion producing element, for providing means for better combustion efficiency and for minimizing the tendency of the flame to snuff out. Other phases of the invention have to do with modifications of the combustion promoting structure andwith an arrangement of parts for facilitating the assembly of the furnace and burner units.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,in which like numerals refer to like parts throughoutthe several views, I have shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a hollow casting or base I having a central opening 2 in its upper side which supports the oil and air projecting devices, the hearth structure and the furnace or boiler 3, the boiler having a peripheral flange 4 through which bolts 5 extend to secure it to-the base I. Interposed between the base I and boiler flange 4 and held in place .by the bolts 5 are an annular burner supporting plate 6 and an annular body 1 of insulating material, the body I being disposed between the plate 6 and base I, and the plate 6 being secured to the base I bybolts 6a.

The oil and air distributing device may be of any suitable construction, and as shown in Figs.

1 and 2 for the purpose of illustration, may comprise a rotatable head 8 having a plurality of air propelling blades 9 and oil distributing tubes llilocated at the under side of head 8, the head being rotated by an electric motor II supported from an annular member l2. The annular member l2 projects upwardly through the plate 6 and is secured to the under side thereof by suitable bolts l3.

The plate 6 is formed with an upwardly extending annular flange M which fits within the lower end of the combustion chamber wall in engagement therewith. Extending between the flange l4 and member I2 is a layer l5 of refractory,'such as, for example, a refractory cement.

The-combustion promoting element or ring l6, shown in Figs. 1, 4 and "l for illustration, is of the character shown in said Patent 1,881,260, and is of stepped construction, having an inner vertical face l1 terminating above the hearth l5 in a low horizontal face I8, but below the path of projected oil indicated by line l9, and an outer vertical face 20 terminating in an upper horizontal face 2| above the path of pro.- jected oil. The upper horizontal face 2i is preferably formed with an annular groove 22, and a groove 23 is preferably formed in the faces l8 and 20, as shown in Fig. 4. The combustion ring l6 may be made of metal or a suitable ceramic Initial ignition of the oil is produced by any well known means such as sparks produced by electrodes 24. Upon the heating of the vaporiz ing wall 20 due to the ignited oil which burns adjacent thereto, the oil impinged against the face 26 is vaporized and mixed with the air, and combustion .occurs above the combustion element l6 and adJacent the furnace wall, the inner vertical face ll directing the outwardly .flowing lower layer of air upwardly along the outer vertical face or vaporizing wall 20.

. 'In order to prevent the combustion supporting .air from causing a cooling effect on the vaporizing wall 20 I have provided, as shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, a plurality of. rectangular air defleeting elements 25, preferably of heat resistant sheet metal bent to an obtuse angle, each of the vaporizing wall 20, the upper horizontal edge 2'! thereof beingdisposed above the upper horizontal face 2| and the plane of the lower horizontal edges 26 thereof being above the path of projected oil as shown in Fig. 4. It is to be noted that due to the curvature of the vaporizing face '20, spaces or passages 29 are provided between the wall 20 and elements 25. In the event the combustion producing elements embody straight rather than curvd sections, any suitable means may be employed to hold the elements 25 slightly' away from the vaporizing wall to provide the passages just described.

Associated with the elements 25 are deflecting members 30, preferably of heat resistant sheet metal. These members are of the general character shown in a co-pending application Serial No. 95,396,-filed August 11, 1936, and each com prises an intermediate imperforate portion 3|, and imperforate portion 32 at one side extending, as viewed in Fig. 4, downwardly at an obtuse angle, and a plurality of narrow fingers 33 at the other side thereof, theflngers alternately extending upwardly and downwardly at obtuse angles with respect to the intermediate portion. Secured to the under side of each member 30 are spaced depending strips 34,-the lower edges of which are formed with slots 35 which seat around the upper edges 21 of the elements 25 to support the members 30- above the elements 25 with the intermediate imperforate portions 3! in spaced relation with respect to the upper edges 21 to provide passageways 36 therebetween.

During operation of the oil burning apparatus described, the oil projected by the distributing head is impinged against the vaporizing walliZil and is initially ignited by sparks produced by the electrodes or other ignition means that may be employed. v

The lower layer of air projected by the distributing head isdeflected upwardly by the inner face ll of the combustion promoting element I6 beyond the lower edges of and toward the elements 25, passing through the oil stream, and the upper layer of air projected by the distributiiig head is deflected upwardly toward the members 30 by the elements 25'. 'A small portion of the lower layer of air, however, may pass below the lower edges 38' of the elements 25, and

impinge against the vaporizing wall 20. Also, some of the air from the upper and lower layers will pass between the elements 25 and impinge against the vaporizing wall 20.

In the construction described, the greater portion..of the air, however, is deflected upwardly by the elements 25 and then is deflected out wardly by the members 30 through the, passageways '36 and above the combustion element l6. Due to the annular chamber 3'! provided above the combustion element I6 between the furnace wall and upper portions of the elements 25 and due to the oppositely inclined fingers 33 of the members 30, a rolling motion is imparted to the air entering through the passageways 36, creating a suction efl'ect adjacent the passages 29 which, after the vaporizing wall 20 becomes heated from the burning oil, draws the vaporized oil through the passages 29 between the vaporizing wall 20 and elements 25 and into the rolling air in the chamber 31.. p

Due to the turbulence androlling action within the annular chamber 31, the air and vaporized oil particles are thoroughly mixed and combustion takes place within the chamber 31 in the form of an annular ring of flame. Thorough mixing of the air and oil particles is also assisted by the downwardly inclined fingers 33 which also become highly heated and assist in vaporization. The ,t bulence and rolling action of the combustible ure and the low presis identical with the. construction described with the exception that the upper outer portion of the combustion ring [6 is removed to provide a large annular recess 38 adjacent the furnace wallwhich provides for a low pressure zone of greater volume that increases the tendency to.

hold the flame of combustion lower down the furnace wall whereby additional area is provided to absorb heat. It will be noted that in this construction-the portion of .the combustion promoting element outwardly of the vaporizing wall is of materially less thickness than the construction previously described. By de-' creasing this thickness, the vaporizing wall 20 will heat more rapidly and increase the rapidity of combustion upon initial ignition.

One distinct advantage of the constructions described is that the vaporizing wall 20 will become heated much more rapidly and thereby provide for quicker vaporization of the oil impinging against the same than can be obtainedin constructions using the conventional refractory combustion ring, due to the fact that the elements 25 prevent the greater portion of the cool currents of air from impinging against the vaporizing wall 20, which currents in conventional constructions tend to cool the same.

The invention described lends itself particularly to converting coal and gas burning furnaces into oil burning furnaces. However, it is also adaptable to furnace-burner units to be sold and installed as a complete unit.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the base I is provided with a support 40 extending across the lower portion of the same which supports the ignition transformer 4| and oil valves 42. The electrical controls, or any other adjuncts that may be desired, may also be positioned within the base I..

The base I, fuel and air distributing unit, hearth, combustion structure, transformer 4| and oil valves 42 may be assembled and shipped as a unitary structure. The boiler or furnace unit and the unitary structure are assemblid by merely positioning the furnace unit over the base I and lowering the same in a manner to fit the flange l4 within the furnace unit. All that remains to be done is to secure the bolts in place and connect the leads from the transformer with the electric power lines.

In Figs. 8 to 12, I have shown a further modified construction which is especially suitable for conversion units. 'In" this construction, thedistributing head. Gil, which maybe of the character previously described, is supported by legsfil con nected wi the annular motor supporting member 62 a d extending to the floor within the furnace 63. A hearth supporting plate 64 is supported "by thev member 62 and elements 65 secured tit-the furnace wall 63. A suitable refractory 66, such as refractory cement, extends between the member I51 and furnace wall and supported upon the refractory 66 are a plurality of generally U-shaped'refractory elements 61 abutting each other and forming a continuous rin adjacent the furnace wall. The outermost 'leg- 68 of the ring is materially higher than the innermost leg 69 and forms a support for the oil intercepting elements III which are in the form of rectangular plates of heat resistant sheet metal.

Suitably secured to the outer side of each plate 10. is a straplike element H to which is secured an inverted U-shaped element 12 which fits over the outer leg 68 of the ring as shown in Fig. 11 to support the plate III in a vertical position intermediate the legs 68 and 69. "As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the plates are supported in spaced endwise relation. Also, secured to the upper portions of the plates 10 are deflectors I3 of the same construction as the members 30 previously described, having an imperforate intermediate portion 14, an imperforate downwardly inclined inner side portion and oppositely inclined alternate fingers 16 at the oposite side. The deflectors 13 are of the same construction as the members 30 previously described with the exception of the means for supporting the same. In this construction, each deflector 13 is supported by means of a straplike element 11 secured to the intermediate portion and secured to the outerface of the plate 10 in a manner to space the intermediate portion above the upper edge to provide a space therebetween.

, It-will be noted in this construction that the lower edges of the plates HI extend below the line 18 of projection of fuel. The plates 10 therefore act as the vaporizing elements and the flame of combustion will be produced in 'a manner similar to that produced by the construction shown in Fig. 8.

If desired, however, the lower edges of the plate HI may be disposed above the line 18 of fuel projection, in which case the structure will function similar to that of Fig. 4, the inner faces of the legs 68 serving as the vaporizing wall.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described it will be understood'that numerous details of. the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. Oil burning apparatus comprising a combustion chamber having an upright wall, a hearth extending to the periphery of said chamber, oil and air projecting means above said hearth for discharging oil and air toward said upright'wall, -v

means adjacent said wall having an oil vaporizing wall inwardly of said upright wall and facing said projecting means for intercepting and vaporizing the oil discharged from said projecting means, and baffle means immediately in front of said vaporizing wall and having the lower' edges thereof slightly above the path of oil discharged from said projecting means for protecting said vaporizing wall from direct impact of a large portion of the air discharged from said projecting means and for directing the said portion of the tr-upwardly over said vaporizing wall and outwardly into the oil vapor passing from said vaporizing wall.

2. Oil burning apparatuscomprising a combustion chamber having .an upright wall, a hearth extendingto the periphery of saidchamber, oil

and air projecting meansabove said hearth for ing wall inwardly'of said upright wall and facing said projecting means for intercepting and vameans, and baifle means disposed directly in front of said vaporizing wall and having the lower edges thereof slightly above the path of oil discharged from said projecting means for protecting said vaporizing wall from direct impact of a large portion of the air discharged irom said projecting means and for directing the said portion of the air upwardly over saidvaporizing wall and outwardly into the oil vapor passing from said vaporizing wall, said baiile means being disposed inwardly of said vaporizing wall a suflicient dis-.

tance to provide space for the passage of oil vapor therebetween.

3. Oil burning apparatus comprising a combustion chamber having an upright wall, a hearth extending to the periphery of said chamber, oil and air projecting means above said hearth for discharging oil and air toward said upright wall, means adjacent said wall having an oil vaporizing wall inwardly of said upright wall and facing said projecting means for intercepting and vaporizing the oil discharged irom said projecting means, and a plurality of vertically disposed plate-like members having their lower edges slightly above the path of oil discharged from said projecting means and being disposed immediately in front of said vaporizing wall in slightly spaced relation with respect thereto for protecting said vaporizing wall from direct impact of a large portion of the 'air discharged from said projecting means and for directing the said portion oithe air upwardly over said vaporizing wall and outwardly into the oil vapor passing from said vaporizing wall.

4. Oil burning apparatus comprising a combustion chamber having an upright wall, a hearth extending to the periphery of said chamber, oil and air projecting means above said hearth for discharging oil and air toward said upright wall, means adjacent said wall having an oil vaporizing wall inwardly of said upright wall and facing said projecting means for intercepting and vaporizing the oil discharged from said projecting means, and a plurality of sheet metal plates disposed in endwise spaced relation immediately in front of said vaporizing wall and slightly above the path of oil discharged from said projecting means for protecting said vaporizing wall from direct impact of a large portion of the air discharged from said projecting means and'for directing the said portion of the air upwardly over said vaporizing wall and outwardly into the oil vapor passing from said vaporizing wall.

5. Oil burning apparatus comprising a combustion chamber having an upright wall, a hearth extending to the periphery of said chamber; oil and air projecting means above said hearth for discharging oil and air toward said upright wall, means'adjacent said wall having an oil vaporizing wall inwardly of said upright wall and facing said projecting means for intercepting and vaporizing the oil discharged from said projecting means, a vertically. arranged air baflie structure disposed slightly above the path of the oil discharged from said projecting means and immediately in front of said vaporizing wall in slightly spaced relation for protecting said vaporizing wall from direct impact of a large portion of the air discharged from said projecting means porizing the oil discharged from said projecting and for directing the said portion of the air upwardly over said vaporizingv wall and outwardly v into the oil vapor passing from said vaporizing wall, and a second wall extending upwardly from said hearth and terminating slightly below the path of the oil discharged from said projecting means and being located slightly inwardly of said baflle structure.

6. Oil burning apparatus comprising a combustion chamber having an upright wall, a hearth extending to the periphery of said chamber, oil and air projecting means above and centrally 01' said hearth for discharging oil and air toward said upright wall, and a combustion promoting elementadjacent said upright wall comprising a substantially'endless refractory element adjacent said wall having an upright oil vaporizing surface and an oil groove at the base of said surface, and a plurality of sheet metal plate-like members, each having leg portions seating in the bottom of said oil groove and said members engaging theppper edge of said surface, the lower edge and said leg portions of each of said members defining an elongated opening for the direct passage therethrough tosaid vaporizing wall of the oil discharged from said projecting means, said members being in the path of a portion of the air discharged by said projecting means. 4

7. Oil burning apparatus comprising a' combustion chamber having an upright'wall, a hearth extending to the periphery of said chamber, oil and air projecting means above said hearth for discharging oil and air towardsaid upright wall, means adjacent said wall having an oil vaporizing wall inwardly of said upright wall and facing said projecting means for interceptingand vaporizing the oil discharged from said projecting means, a vertically arranged air baffle structure disposed slightly above the path of the oil dis-' charged from said projecting means and immediately in front of said vaporizing wall-in slightly spaced relation for protecting said vaporizing wall from direct impact of a large portion of the air discharged from said projecting means and for directing the said portion of the air upwardly and over said vaporizing wall, and a deflecting structure spaced above said bailie structure and vaporizing wall and extending inwardly beyond said baflle structure for positively deflecting the said portion of the air into mixing relation with the oil vapor passing from said vaporizing wall.

8. Oil burning apparatuscomprislng a combustion chamber having an upright wall,a hearth extending to the periphery of said chamber, oil and air-projecting means above and centrally of said hearth for discharging oil and air toward said upright wall and a combustion promoting means comprising a substantially endless refractory element adjacent said wall and having an upright surface, a plurality of upright sheet metal plate-like members immediately infront of said upright surface and supported by said element, said plate-like members having the greater portion of their'lower edges slightly above the path of the oil discharged from said projecting means for the passage of the oil therebelow into direct contact with said upright surface of said refracory element.

- REGINALD W. BECKETI. 

